Balloon-Blowing Play Therapy During Nursing Care for a Child with Bronchopneumonia and an Ineffective Breathing Pattern: A Single-Patient Case Report
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33755/jkk.v12i4.1057Keywords:
balloon blowing exercise, bronchopneumonia, child, ineffective breathing pattern, nursing careAbstract
Background: Balloon-blowing play has been proposed as an adjunctive breathing activity in pediatric nursing, but its delivery, tolerability and contribution to recovery during acute bronchopneumonia care are poorly distinguished from concurrent treatment. This report describes supervised balloon-blowing play during nursing care for a child with bronchopneumonia.
Case presentation: A three-year-old girl with cough, fever, dyspnea, chest-wall retractions and an ineffective breathing pattern received supplemental oxygen, intravenous antibiotics, nebulized bronchodilator therapy and nursing airway management. Three nurse-supervised balloon-blowing sessions of approximately 5–10 minutes were documented over three hospital days. Recorded respiratory rates were 32, 28 and 24 breaths/minute on Days 1–3, and pulse-oximetry values were 94%, 96% and 98%, all during oxygen administration at 3 L/min. Nasal flaring, retractions, accessory-muscle use and rhonchi diminished. The activity was described as tolerated with no recorded adverse event, but systematic safety monitoring and immediate pre/post-session measurements were unavailable. Session scheduling and repetitions were incompletely documented.
Conclusion: Balloon-blowing play was documented as a tolerated component of supportive nursing care in this case. Clinical improvement occurred during several concurrent therapies, so the independent effects and safety of balloon blowing cannot be inferred. More complete intervention and safety documentation is needed
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